Looking back in time, 2020 will be regarded as a new era in human history caused by the COVID-19 crisis. It will be remembered as the age of social distancing, quarantines, stay-at-home orders (issued on March 30, 2020, in Maryland), teleworking, and the dominance of Zoom in our every day lives. In our Church, images of General Conference with our prophet and leaders sitting spaced apart by 6 feet and addressing an empty room will be forever impressed on our minds. Indeed, our first Branch meeting suspended was Sunday, March 15, 2020. The first online Relief Society meeting took place on April 5, and the first baby online shower for Charlene Wang was held on April 11. Patrick & Meili Shen created the first online Sunday School lesson and posted it on the Branch YouTube site. In March 2020, the first ever Elders Quorum and Relief Society presidency meetings were held online. The Branch Presidency meetings, Branch Council meetings, and Seminary classes began to be held in March as well, but these meetings were held online first 5 or 10 years ago.
And now today, April 19, 2020, the first Branch Sacrament Meeting was held. Intense preparation and time were needed to realize the first Montgomery Branch devotional with 31 Zoom logins. There was no Sacrament ordinance and no young men administering the Sacrament, no music director or pianist, and no printed Sacrament bulletin. Brother Da Zhao spent much time in spearheading the setting up of a Zoom meeting. Much thought and planning and testing went into setting up a phone line for English translation provided by John Huang and a second phone line for members without Internet to dial in. In addition, the chat conversations were being monitored and answered by Wesley and Yangyang Wei.
Instead of a music director, pianist, and an actual piano, Da Zhao played the music for the closing hymn. Da also coordinated the whole Zoom session, including muting and unmuting everyone at the appropriate time. After the Branch business, Brother Wesley Wei shared an inspiring talk about the importance of prophets in his life. After the closing prayer, folks lingered for almost an hour to socialize on Zoom.
It was just amazing to crowd into a small virtual chatroom for the important purpose of gathering to worship the Lord on this special day. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20) We felt that confirmation today during the prayers, the song, and the talk. We are so lucky to gather in online holy places to worship on the Sabbath day. We are so grateful for the freedom to worship and for the opportunity to spend more time with our families. As President Nelson recently reminded us, "That gospel provides certain hope and help to a troubled world. And I promise that you will receive comfort and peace as you continue to hear Him."
Program
Presiding: President Charles Huang
Conducting: President Charles Huang
Translator: John Huang
Zoom coordinator: Da Zhao
Chat coordinator: Wesley & Yangyang Wei
Pre-meeting social chat
Welcome: President Charles Huang
Opening Prayer: Elder Barton
Branch Business
Speaker: Wesley Wei
Closing Hymn: "I Know that My Redeemer Lives", Chinese 76, English 136
Closing Prayer: Elder Welton
Online Linger Longer
1st Announcement
兄弟姐妹，
很久不見面, 我們很想念您，希望這個星期天能在網上見到你們。我們向您問安。雖然我們無法親自到教堂舉行聚會，但我們決定每週進行一次線上聚會，以便我們獲得一些精神糧食並互相支持。 每周線上聚會將從這個星期日(4月19日)開始，並將在每個星期日早晨10:30舉行。 線上聚會將會有開會詩歌和祈禱，然後進行演講，全程約30分鐘。 我們將透過電話進行翻譯。
每個星期日請大家提早10分鐘登入，以確定您能參加線上聚會。請給自己一些時間來下載和安裝軟件，然後單擊鏈接 。 如果您有技術上的問題，請您在聚會之前聯絡我們。
分會會長團
Brothers and Sisters,
We miss seeing you all in person and we miss you. While we are unable to meet in person for our church meetings, we have decided to do a weekly devotional online so that we can receive some spiritual nourishment and support each other. The weekly devotionals will start this Sunday, April 19, and will be held every Sunday morning on Zoom meeting at 10:30 AM. It will last for about 30 minutes. There will be an opening song and opening prayer, followed by a talk.
Translation will be available via a separate dial in number. To make sure everything is smooth for the first Zoom meeting, please give yourself time to download and install the software by clicking on the link to ensure you won't miss our virtual meeting. If you have any technical issue, please contact us ahead of the meeting.
The Branch Presidency
2nd Announcement
兄弟姐妹:
為了確保線上聚會的安全，我們更新了一些線上聚會登入信息，請您使用下列的信息登入線上聚會。聚會在明天早晨10:30開始，請大家提早10分鐘登入，以確定您能參加線上聚會。如果您有技術上的問題，請您在聚會之前聯絡我們。明天的開會詩歌為”76 我知道救主活著”，您可以事先準備。
分會會長團
Brothers and Sisters,
To improve meeting security, we update some meeting information as shown below. Please use the updated information for our meeting. We will start the devotional at 10:30 am. Please try to join the meeting 10 minutes before the meeting starts to ensure you can participate in the Zoom meeting. If you have any technical issue, please contact us ahead of the meeting. The opening hymn will be “136 I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” Please prepare your hymn music sheet before the meeting.
The Branch Presidency
